Episode Three

“Hello, Sweetheart.” Mrs. Lu said as she gave them a warm hug. “Why do you just get here? They are all waiting for you.”

LuHan just smiled casually as he kissed his Mom’s cheek. “Sorry, Mom. Trapped in a pretty bad traffic.”

Did you see that? He and his mom walked together side by side with his arms wrapped around her, and leaving her behind. Oh, she’s not jealous of his mom, not at all. In fact, she’s envious of him because he could get that warm welcome from his mom and she only got a cold-shoulder instead. From the beginning, she already displayed a dislike attitude to her; a different smile that she flashed at her and a cynical gaze that she snapped at her when she asked ‘Why do you just get here?’. It’s like implying that they were late because of her, though it’s half-true, but in her opinion it’s so unfair if she did that cold attitude right from the start. It’s only the beginning and she already declared a war.

Im Yoona followed them closely behind as they entered the Lu’s family grand living room and was immediately greeted by dozens of pairs of eyes stuck on them. All of them are the quiverful of Lu’s family; yes, this was a regular gathering that they always held at least three times a year. Most of them lived in China actually, but they always took their time to attend this occasion because it’s a tradition that had been passed down for generations. Yoona was a new part of their big family because it hadn’t been a long time since she and LuHan got married. And they were included in the ‘younger generation’ category, despite the fact they were already married. 

Starting with the tall man on the left side who stood lazily with ‘I-don’t-give-a-’ face was Kris. He’s LuHan’s cousin from his father and was only six-month younger than LuHan. He was still single and seemed like he didn’t have any plan to get married in the near future; he’s a party-holic and a Casanova prince who kept changing girlfriends every month, so it’s basically explained why he was not interested in getting married yet. Standing next to him was Fei and her husband, Zhou Mi, who carried a cute little boy on his arm named Zhou Yu. Fei was also his cousin from his father. Yoona had met her several times when she visited South Korea and she’s pretty close with her. One thing that described her best was she’s the icon of y-mommy. Across from them was Victoria and Changmin; an ideal couple who had been married for almost five years and had been blessed with four-years-old-cute-twins named Chanming and Chenguang. And the last, the man and woman who smiled brightly at them were Yixing and Chao Lu; both of them were still single. Yoona was also familiar with both of them; it’s because all of them weren’t the goody-goody type of person, so they could become closer so fast. Actually, there were some other ‘younger generation’ siblings, but unfortunately they couldn’t attend today’s gathering.

The older generation of Lu’s family consisted of his grandfather and grandmother, his father and mother, and the brothers and sisters of his father. They were so kind to her, except his mother. She’s not mean to her, but she’s rather chic and so uptight; probably because she was expecting his one and only son to marry a woman who was more righteous than her. But Yoona didn't know for sure why LuHan's mom always plastered a cold-face every time she met her. So that's why she was forever afraid of LuHan's mom.

#

"Yoona, how are you girl?" Victoria asked as she took a seat beside her with little Chenquang on her grip. "I am sorry, I couldn't visit your housewarming party. I've been so busy with work-stuff and my children's school stuff. They'll starting kindergarten in a few months and it stressed me out. But, I promise you that I'll pay a visit. Oh by the way, Why are you here alone? Where's LuHan?" She asked once again while wandering her eyes through every corner of the house, searching for him.

"Oh, he's talking with Kris and Yixing. Probably talking about boys-thingy; girls and football." She chuckled. "I am perfectly fine, by the way. And unnie, don't be sorry because you coudn't come to my housewarming party. And don't bother to come to my house in your hectic-days, I should be the one who visits you." 

"-Chenquang-ah, do you want a lollipop? Auntie has one for you." She averted her gaze towards Vic's daughter, beaming excitedly as she flapped a colorful lollipop in front of the cutie-girl. Chenquang stretched her right hand to take the lollipop out from Yoona's hand after she got an approval nod from her mom. 

"Thank you, Auntie." Chenquang thanked her aunt with a honeyed-voice and a big smile spread over her small face.

"How cute." She smiled back at Chenquang as she her hair lovingly. "Unnie, she's so adorable, exactly the same like her mother." 

"Well, thank you for the compliment." She winked her eyes childishly. "Skipped the boring talks, now tell me. How's your married life with LuHan?" She wiggled her brows, looking at her teasingly.

She chuckled softly upon hearing Vic's question. She thought for a while then she said, "It's quite amazing." 

"Wow, wow, wow. Tell me Yoona, tell me. What did he do to make you say that? LuHan that I know is a twenty-eight years old grown man whose mental is like a five-years-old kid."

She burst out laughing. It's pretty accurate actually; LuHan was never grow up.

"I heard it, Noona." They turned their head almost at the same time towards the voice source and then they saw an ecstatic LuHan heading towards them. Victoria just rolled her eyes as she diverted her attention back to Chenquang who busily ate her lollipop, totally wasn't afraid of LuHan despite the fact that she had just talked badly about him behind his back.

LuHan placed his hands on his wife's shoulders as he slightly tilted his head towards Yoona while saying, "Just ignore her, Honey. It doesn't matter as long as I love you and you love me, right?"

Victoria frowned, wrinkling her nose as LuHan's cringeworthy-spiel went through her ears. "Oh Gosh, LuHan. You and your lame flattery."

"You're just jealous because Changmin Hyung can't be as fun as me. Am I right, Noona?" He threw a teasing look at Victoria. "Just admit it already."

"See what I mean, Yoona? I am right, aren't I?" Victoria snapped, shifting her gaze to Yoona as she smirked at LuHan. "C'mon, sweetheart. Let's go to your Daddy. Uncle LuHan will make you jealous because he's more a child-like than you. Let's go, go go." They walked away from Yoona and LuHan, heading towards Changmin and her son that were playing on the backyard.

LuHan watched them walked away, then plopping his body down next to Yoona. "What's wrong with that Noona?"

"LuHan, you can't talk about her like that. You have to respect her. She's your Noona, remember?" She shot a stern gaze at him.

"It's okay, Yoon. We are used to entangle ourselves in small bickering like this." He grinned. "Ah, Yoona. Let's meet Mom and Dad. We have to pay our greeting."

"Right now?"

"Yes. Why? Are you still that nervous? It's okay, Babe. My mom won't bite you, at least not physically. Haha." 

She nudged his chest, taking a revenge for his oh-not-so-funny joke. "Thanks for your concern, Honey." She said sarcastically.

He let out a small 'ouch' whilst rubbing the spot that she had just hit. "Calm down, Baby. I'll always be here." He said as he wrapped his left arm around her shoulders, and then he ruffled her hair playfully soon after that.

'Here comes the storm. Brace yourself, Yoona.' She thought to herself.

But deep inside her heart, she was thankful for that moment LuHan was right there beside her.

***